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Show iDer 1 Times Newspaper PageA2 Thursday, July 29, 2004 TIMES Submit a Guest Editorial or Opinion at our ottice, located locat-ed at 538 South State in o DiniG Orem. Deadlines Monday 10:00 a.m. are All submissions are subject to editing for length, and The Orem-Geneva Times reserves me right to publish or not to publish a submission. X (Editorial) COMMENTARY & Q n Utah Falling Short in Preventing Colon Cancer Utah could be doing more to prevent colorectal colorec-tal cancer, commonly known as colon cancer, according to a new nationwide report from the American Cancer Society. An estimated 670 Utahans will be diagnosed diag-nosed with colon cancer in 2004 and another 260 will die for it A state law requiring insurers to cover the full range of colon cancer screening options would help ensure more Americans have access to potentially life-saving colon cancer screening exams. "Death from colon cancer can-cer can be reduced by as much as 80 percent if people receive the recommended recom-mended screenings," said Faye Keller of the American Cancer Society. "Every state legislator has the power to help eradicate cancer in Utah. We can must do better." The American Cancer Society recommends that all Americans aged 50 and older be screened for colorectal cancer, however, howev-er, many private health insurance plans do not provide patients access to all of the screening options, denying doctors and patients the opportunity opportu-nity to choose the most appropriate screening tools for that patient. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted colon cancer screening laws. ' Colon cancer is the second sec-ond leading cause of cancer can-cer death in the United States among men and women combined. Ninety percent of colon cancer patients survive five years or more when the cancer is diagnosed at an early, localized stage, but 91 percent of colon cancer patients die within five years when the disease is not caught early. Beyond colon cancer screenings, the Society's report gave Utah one passing grade on preserving preserv-ing insurance coverage for cancer screenings. However the state got mixed reviews on the three tobacco issues. The state provided only partial par-tial coverage for smoking cessation to all Medicaid beneficiaries, has a tobacco tobac-co excise tax below the national average in the range of 35 cent to 77 cents, and spends less than 50 percent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) minimum recommended recom-mended funding for tobacco control. This year in Utah 6,360 people will be diagnosed diag-nosed with cancer and another 2,620 will die of the disease. The Society evaluated legislative activity nationwide on five cancer related issues: Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation ces-sation treatment; tobacco excises taxes; tobacco control program funding; access to colorectal cancer can-cer screening; and preserving pre-serving insurance coverage cover-age for cancer screenings. A traffic light color-coded system identifies how well a state is doing. In each case green represents repre-sents the Society's benchmark bench-mark position, yellow indicates movement towards the Society's goal and red shows where states are falling short. A copy of the report is available avail-able online at www.can-cer.orgtakeaction. The Orem-Geneva Times 538 South State Street Orem, UT 84058 An edition of The Daily Herald, Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Subscriptions & Delivery 375-5103 News & Advertising 225-1340 Fax 2251341 E-mail oremtimesnetworld.com USPS 411-711. Published Thursdays by Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058. Periodicals postage paid at Orem, Utah 84059. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 65, Orem, UT 84059. Member: Audit Bureau ot Circulations NEWSSTAND PRICE $0.50 SUBSCRIPTION RATE 1 year-$36.40 (in county) (Sunday & Thursday plus Holiday deliveries) Holiday deliveries include delivery the week of Easter, Memorial, Independence, Pioneer, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. 1 year- $45.40 (out of county) NEWS We welcome news tips. Call 225-1340 to report news tips or if you have a comment or a question. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. ' ,9k I I TT! 7 .1 T l. 1 ' umpanogos Green 9 in. 1l THE OLD ICE-CREAM FREEZER THIS IS ICE-CREAM MONTH We celebrate the lure of sweet ice-cream: The cynosure of every taster's dream. Some recipes are modern; some are old. But all of them require it icey-cold! In Grandma's day she made a sacred vow: To use the creamy richness from her cow. She blended it with pure vanilla flavor, Creating memories for us to savor. We even used to sing, "You scream! I scream!" As all of us were screaming for ice cream! Her sweet ambrosia filled the silver pan In which a wooden paddle stirred the span. Within an oaken bucket, iron-bound, The pan was placed with salt and ice around. A heavy handle, engineered to turn The paddle, like an antique butter churn, Congealed the mix: a singular device That turned vanilla-flavored cream to ice! The paddle, as it turned, scraped freezing cream Into desert our palates would esteem. But times have changed, and ice-cream freezers rust; And most of them are now antiques, or dust. The cow, herself, is seldom seen, today, Although we know, somewhere, she must eat hay. Her milk now flows from udder to a tank On wheels that whisk it to the dairybank. Her golden cream, with just a mite of milk: Transformed into the stuff that tastes like silk. And so, today we sing, "You scream! I scream!" And all of us are screaming for ice-cream! i Now, Utah Dairy Farmers unify, Proclaiming Ice-Cream Flavors to the sky. For Utah leads the nation in its gumption To hit the heights in its ice cream consumption! With chocolate flavors, leading all the lists, They are the best, our governor insists! The 'chocolate-holies' whet their appetites With ice-cream dioramas of delights. In serving several, or a greater group, The tool most useful is the ice-cream scoop! When Chocolate Almond, Rocky Road excel, Those ice cream candy classics ring the bell! With Chocolate Creamies, Cherry Chocolate Chip, The newest ice-cream flavors never slip. Godzilla ice cream, made with swirls of fudge, May earn a pardon from the toughest judge. Whatever wishes ice-cream lovers favor Shall be revealed to them in next month's flavor! And so, we still shall sing, "You scream! I scream!" As all of us are screaming for ice-cream! The trusty ice-cream freezer paved the way For all the tasty ice-cream treats, today. But save a little credit for the cow: She makes our ice-cream possible, somehow! And don't forget the ice-cream Grandma made, When you enjoy your sundae in the shade! "We all dream; we do not understand our dreams, yet we act as if nothing strange goes on in our sleep minds, strange at least by comparison with the logical, purposeful doings of our minds when we are awake." -Erich Fromm, The Forgotten Language Orem-Geneva Times 538 South State Orem 225-1340 Fax: 225-1341 Kirk Parkiasoa 225-1340 Publisher kpariunsoaberaldextra.com RM Pmrwkk 225-1340 General Manager rprecrwkhheraldextra.com Breat Samper 225-1340 Production Supervisor bsumnerheraldextra.com Laadoa Oboa 225-1340 Editor loUonheraldextra.com DAILY HERALD PUBLEHLNGCO. Robert Kiat 225-1340 Art director IT rkingheraldextra.com Sydaey Samaer 225-1340 Office Manager tsumnerberakkxtra.com I ji ii r - ' ikj . ' '" " r. u Leon Aiken Leon Aiken was one of the five Lincoln High School graduates who joined the Merchant Marine early in World War II. All five later served on the same ship that went round the world. This column has mentioned men-tioned before the importance of beer to servicemen. Among other stories, Leon tells a good "beer story Let's start with that one. We had on our ship an army lieutenant, in charge of the cargo, to make sure it wasn't tampered with. As we delivered cargo to Guam and Saipan, the Seabees would come out in ducks cargo boats and unload the ship. They'd take the cargo ashore, unload it, then come back for more. We had a load of beer on our ship. When the Seabees got about a hundred yards from our ship on the way in, they broke open the beer cargo. Our army lieutenant was so mad, he actually got out his .45 (which he wore on his hip all the time) and started shooting at the Seabees for opening the cargo. I don't know whether he was aiming at them, but I do know he was shooting right in their direction When we were in the New Hebrides, we had to wait about two weeks for a convoy escort to take us to Guadalcanal, because we couldn't go as a single ship. After two or three days, everybody got bored. Somebody said, "Let's go swimming." The first mate took a group of us to a beach on a nearby island, a mile or so away. Four of us decided that rather than swim, we would look around the island to see what was going on. The natives were afraid we were going to attack them, I guess; at least they hid all their women. We were having a good time, swinging on vines, like Tarzan. When we arrived on the beach, the first mate had said to us, "Be sure and be back here before the sun goes down, because well be leaving before the sun sets." When we came around the bend to catch the launch, the sun was still high, but all the rest of the men had got on it and left. So we decided to build a raft and row back to the ship, which we could see in the distance. We tied some logs together with some rope we found, and thought we'd tied it pretty good. Out about three or four hundred yards, the raft fell apart. One fellow couldn't swim, so I told another fellow fel-low to have him hold on to a log that would take him back to shore. "Ill swim over to our ship and have them come back for you." My friend and I started swiniming, while the sun was still high. But eight or nine hours later, we were still swimming, because the tide was coming out and we were swimming against it. I was shedding every piece of clothing I had on, to make swimming easier. We could have drowned. When I took a rest and floated, float-ed, to get my breath, I would imagine that a shark swimming by. Then I would head out again, as fast as I could. When I arrived at another ship, closer than ours, I was so tired that I had to put my arm in the Jacob's ladder (rope ladder) that was hanging over the fan-tail, fan-tail, till I got my breath. I climbed up and went to see the captain of the ship. The captain raised all kinds of cain: "What in the world are you guys doing here?" When we told him, he said, "I'm going to see that your captain is broken down to a boy scout!" To give our captain a scare, he radioed my ship and said that two of us guys had drowned. The first mate of our ship came and got us and the two guys back on the beach. I guess the highlight of my service in the Merchant Marine was going to officer training school. Then I could be in charge of the engine room. I don't know that my service changed my life. I had been a hard worker all my life, and I knew that I would just carry right on. . Any readers who would like to help with interviewing interview-ing veterans may call Don Norton, head of the Orem City Veterans Oral History Project. . i |